derailment
39 articles

An Amtrak train traveling from New York to Miami collided with a freight train Sunday morning near Columbia, South Carolina, killing two Amtrak employees and injuring 116 others. The deadly crash, Amtrak’s third fatal accident since its Cascades 501 train derailed south of Tacoma, Washington on Dec. 18, occurred about 2:45 a.m. Sunday morning in the town of Cayce, South Carolina. According to CBS News, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said the collision killed Amtrak engineer Michael Kempf, 54, and conductor Michael Sella, 32. Mr. Kempf and Mr. Sella were among the 148 people aboard Amtrak 91, including 139 passengers ... Read More

An Amtrak conductor on a training run of the Cascades 501 that derailed in DuPont, Washington, Dec. 18 is one of the first people to sue the railroad as a result of the accident. Garrick Freeman, a 48-year-old Amtrak conductor, was among the 80 people injured when the train derailed as it sped into a downward curve at more than twice the speed limit. Thirteen of the train’s cars leaped the tracks on an overpass and landed on cars and trucks on Interstate 5 below. Three people were killed. Mr. Freeman, who was with the train’s engineer in the lead ... Read More

Railroad data obtained by the Associated Press shows that nearly 300 people have been killed and several thousand maimed in 150 U.S. train crashes that could have been prevented had rail companies installed the speed-control technology that federal safety investigators have been advocating for decades. According to the AP, National Transportation Board (NTSB) investigators first pushed for “automatic train control” in 1969, after two Penn Central commuter trains crashed into each other in Darien, Connecticut, killing four people and injuring 43. Since that crash, there have been 298 deaths, 6,763 injuries, and $385 million in property damages in train crashes ... Read More

An Amtrak train hauling more than 300 passengers and crew from Miami to New York City derailed at the Savannah, Georgia, station Wednesday night. Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams told the Associated Press that the derailment occurred as the Silver Meteor train #98 was backing into the Savannah station. The last three cars of the train – a baggage car and two sleeper cars – left the tracks but remained fully upright. No injuries were reported. The derailment occurred as a historic snowstorm was pummeling the Savannah area and other parts of the Eastern Seaboard. Passenger Joel Potischman, who was traveling ... Read More

The Amtrak train that derailed south of Tacoma, Washington, Monday morning, killing three people and injuring dozens of others, was traveling nearly three times the speed limit, federal investigators said. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that Amtrak’s Cascade Train 501 was speeding at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone as it entered an overpass in DuPont, where all but one of the train’s 14 cars careened off the tracks. At a news conference late Monday, NTSB board member Bella Dinh-Zarr said that investigators had retrieved the train’s event data recorder from the rear locomotive and are using ... Read More

An Amtrak derailment in DuPont, Washington, Monday morning has resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. Authorities say at least three people are dead after part of Amtrak’s newly opened Cascades 501 line careened off an overpass near Mounts Road in Dupont and landing on the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 below. Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma is serving as the main hospital receiving casualties from the train crash, but the hospital did not disclose how many patients it has seen. A spokesman for Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia told The Seattle Times that it had received about a ... Read More

A CSX freight train laden with hazardous materials derailed in Southwestern Pennsylvania Wednesday morning, igniting fires and forcing the evacuation of an entire town. According to the Associated Press, at least 32 cars of the CSX freight train careened off the tracks in Hyndman, Pennsylvania, destroying the garage of a residence. A CSX spokesman said at least one of the cars carrying gasoline and one laden with molten sulfur spilled and caught fire. Authorities investigating the accident haven’t determined what caused the train to derail. It’s also unclear how extensive the damage is. According to the AP, the residential garage ... Read More

Former Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian was arraigned last week on numerous charges related to the deaths and injuries of passengers aboard Amtrak 188, which derailed in Philadelphia two years ago, killing eight passengers and injuring numerous others. Mr. Bostian, 34, was charged with eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of causing or risking a catastrophe, and multiple counts of reckless endangerment. He was arraigned Thursday, May 17, and released on an $81,000 bond, with his next scheduled court date set for June 7. Mr. Bostian was operating the seven-car Amtrak commuter train on May 12, 2015, when it approached ... Read More

Two new bills intended to protect the environment and communities from oil train disasters have been introduced in the Oregon legislature with strong support among environmentalists, Native American leaders, and others who believe not enough is being done to prevent or at least limit oil-train derailments and spills. Support for the bills has been fueled largely by the June 3 Union Pacific oil train derailment near Mosier, Oregon, which contaminated pristine forested areas with highly toxic and volatile crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region. The spill and fire occurred alongside tracks paralleling the Columbia River, a swift-moving, cold-water salmon ... Read More

Railroad giant BNSF has agreed to pay $50,000 in civil penalties for a 2015 oil train derailment in Galena, Illinois, that released several thousand gallons of oil , triggered a massive fire that burned for days, and forced the evacuation of area residents. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said the settlement resolves environmental concerns triggered by the March 2015 derailment and spill, which Delaware-based BNSF was court-ordered to clean and monitor. Nobody was injured by the derailment, but the accident released about 30,000 gallons of crude oil, contaminating the ground and threatening local water sources, including the Galena and Mississippi ... Read More

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